Hurricane season preparations at Lee County construction sitesFGCU president reflects on first year with graduating class
FORT MYERS BEACH Hurricane season preparations at Lee County construction sites Many already know the drill when hurricane season is around the corner.
FGCU FGCU president reflects on first year with graduating class Alico Arena was packed this weekend as Florida Gulf Coast University graduated 1,900 students in four ceremonies.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Lee County teachers bargain for new raises Kevin Daly is the voice of the Lee County Teachers Union, and he says he knows firsthand the struggle teachers experience across the state.
FORT MYERS New Starbucks off Colonial expected to add to traffic headaches It’s a venti-sized traffic nightmare. That’s how Gina O’Donnell envisions the future of this plaza.
NAPLES Feeding families through Meals of Hope They’re a Naples-based non-profit organization whose mission is to alleviate hunger both locally and throughout the country.
Family dealing with two losses in quick succession A teenager will not get to celebrate turning 21 years old with friends, can’t put a smile on his family member’s faces and will never get to see his mother again.
JERUSALEM (AP) Israeli leaders have approved a military operation into the Gaza Strip city of Rafah Israeli leaders approved a military operation into the Gaza Strip city of Rafah, and Israeli forces were striking targets in the area, officials announced Monday, hours after Hamas announced it had accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal.
FORT MYERS Middle school tech worker uses CPR skills to save pickleball player’s life It was the right place, at the right time, and that right place was near the pickleball court.
EVERGLADES Big Sugar’s lawsuit for control over Lake Okeechobee water There’s a battle for who controls the water in the State of Florida. Three major sugar companies have filed a lawsuit saying they are owed a specific amount of public water for irrigation from Lake Okeechobee.
NAPLES Annual Holocaust Remembrance Day program returns to Jewish Federation of Greater Naples Sunday was a day to remember the six million men, women and children lost in the Holocaust.
COLLIER COUNTY 13th dead Florida panther of 2024 found Saturday; deaths now match 2023’s annual total Wildlife officials discovered the 13 dead endangered Florida panther of the year, matching 2023’s total reported mortalities less than halfway into the year.
NORTH PORT Entryway work temporarily closes North Port Library The North Port Library will be closed through Saturday while work is being done to the entryway. During the closure books and other borrowed items can be returned to nearby locations.
FORT MYERS More changes near Colonial Blvd. and Six Mile Cypress in Fort Myers An already jam-packed, headache-inducing area for traffic is expected to get worse on Monday.
National Hurricane Preparedness Week: Preseason preparations With less than a month until the official start of the 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has designated May 5th to May 11th National Hurricane Preparedness Week.
CAPE CORAL Temporary closures planned for Cape Coral athletic fields Three athletic fields in Cape Coral will temporarily close in May and another in June.
FORT MYERS BEACH Hurricane season preparations at Lee County construction sites Many already know the drill when hurricane season is around the corner.
FGCU FGCU president reflects on first year with graduating class Alico Arena was packed this weekend as Florida Gulf Coast University graduated 1,900 students in four ceremonies.
SOUTHWEST FLORIDA Lee County teachers bargain for new raises Kevin Daly is the voice of the Lee County Teachers Union, and he says he knows firsthand the struggle teachers experience across the state.
FORT MYERS New Starbucks off Colonial expected to add to traffic headaches It’s a venti-sized traffic nightmare. That’s how Gina O’Donnell envisions the future of this plaza.
NAPLES Feeding families through Meals of Hope They’re a Naples-based non-profit organization whose mission is to alleviate hunger both locally and throughout the country.
Family dealing with two losses in quick succession A teenager will not get to celebrate turning 21 years old with friends, can’t put a smile on his family member’s faces and will never get to see his mother again.
JERUSALEM (AP) Israeli leaders have approved a military operation into the Gaza Strip city of Rafah Israeli leaders approved a military operation into the Gaza Strip city of Rafah, and Israeli forces were striking targets in the area, officials announced Monday, hours after Hamas announced it had accepted an Egyptian-Qatari cease-fire proposal.
FORT MYERS Middle school tech worker uses CPR skills to save pickleball player’s life It was the right place, at the right time, and that right place was near the pickleball court.
EVERGLADES Big Sugar’s lawsuit for control over Lake Okeechobee water There’s a battle for who controls the water in the State of Florida. Three major sugar companies have filed a lawsuit saying they are owed a specific amount of public water for irrigation from Lake Okeechobee.
NAPLES Annual Holocaust Remembrance Day program returns to Jewish Federation of Greater Naples Sunday was a day to remember the six million men, women and children lost in the Holocaust.
COLLIER COUNTY 13th dead Florida panther of 2024 found Saturday; deaths now match 2023’s annual total Wildlife officials discovered the 13 dead endangered Florida panther of the year, matching 2023’s total reported mortalities less than halfway into the year.
NORTH PORT Entryway work temporarily closes North Port Library The North Port Library will be closed through Saturday while work is being done to the entryway. During the closure books and other borrowed items can be returned to nearby locations.
FORT MYERS More changes near Colonial Blvd. and Six Mile Cypress in Fort Myers An already jam-packed, headache-inducing area for traffic is expected to get worse on Monday.
National Hurricane Preparedness Week: Preseason preparations With less than a month until the official start of the 2024 Atlantic Hurricane Season, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has designated May 5th to May 11th National Hurricane Preparedness Week.
CAPE CORAL Temporary closures planned for Cape Coral athletic fields Three athletic fields in Cape Coral will temporarily close in May and another in June.
FILE: Former President George H.W. Bush (Photo via CBS News) HOUSTON (AP) Allegations that former President George H.W. Bush inappropriately touched seven women involve potential crimes punishable by fines or jail time, if they had been prosecuted. All but one of the cases is ineligible under state laws that limit when a prosecution can begin after an alleged crime, and several lawyers interviewed said that it would be difficult to win a conviction against Bush, who has vascular parkinsonism, a rare syndrome that mimics Parkinson’s disease. “You’re still going to be facing prosecuting a 93-year-old man in a wheelchair that’s a former president,” said Toby Shook, a lawyer who previously served as a prosecutor in Dallas. “I doubt if you could ever find a jury that would ever want to convict him.” There’s no indication prosecutors are planning to pursue a case against Bush. Jordana Grolnick, an actress who alleged that Bush groped her behind last year as his wife, Barbara, stood nearby, told The Associated Press that she has no plans to report the 41st president to authorities. That appears to be the only incident that hasn’t reached the local statute of limitations on how long a crime can be prosecuted after it occurs. The incidents occurred in three states over a decade. In all of the cases, the women say Bush touched their buttocks as they stood next to him to take photos. All three states have laws against touching someone without their consent. The women’s stories broadly follow the same outline: Bush patted them below the waist as they stood next to him to take photos, sometimes with a joke about his favorite magician or writer being named “David Cop-a-Feel.” Bush has issued repeated apologies through a spokesman “to anyone he has offended.” The spokesman, Jim McGrath, said in a statement last month that Bush has used a wheelchair for roughly five years, and that “his arm falls on the lower waist of people with whom he takes pictures.” In a statement Monday, McGrath said, “George Bush simply does not have it in his heart to knowingly cause anyone distress, and he again apologizes to anyone he offended during a photo op.” McGrath did not respond to a request for additional comment Tuesday. Actress Heather Lind was the first to accuse Bush of groping her, saying in an Oct. 24 Instagram post that Bush “touched me from behind” and told “a dirty joke” while they posed for a photo at a Houston screening of the AMC television series “Turn.” Six more women have come forward since then, including Roslyn Corrigan, who told Time magazine Monday that Bush groped her as they took a photo in 2003, when Corrigan was 16, during an event in The Woodlands, a Houston suburb. Broadway actress Megan Elizabeth Lewis also told NJ.com that Bush groped her at the performance of a musical in Houston in 2009. The AP generally does not identify victims of sexual assault without their consent, but is using the names of women who have spoken publicly on social media or in news reports. Four of the incidents are reported to have occurred in Texas. Shook said that under Texas law, touching someone’s buttocks over the person’s clothing would most likely be grounds for a misdemeanor assault charge, with only a $500 fine and no jail time. In Maine, where Bush is accused of grabbing two women, those allegations could give rise to a charge of assault or unlawful sexual touching, punishable by up to a year in jail, said Walt McKee, a defense attorney in Augusta, Maine. And in Pennsylvania, where a retired newspaper journalist has accused Bush of touching her during an event in Erie, the state’s law against indecent assault could apply, said Richard Settgast, an adjunct law professor at Penn State University. A key question in any prosecution, the lawyers said, would be whether the suspect touched the victim for sexual gratification or by accident. While age and physical disability would factor into any determination, Settgast said, “I don’t necessarily think that just because someone’s infirm, they wouldn’t be able to be held accountable.” Bush, who served as president from 1989 to 1993, is a beloved figure in both Texas and Maine, the two states where he lives. Two days after the first woman accused Bush of misconduct, Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner tweeted that Bush was “a statesman and role model to me.” Days later, Bush joined his son, former President George W. Bush, on the field before Game 5 of baseball’s World Series to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.